Mavs Won't Pursue Knicks' Mitchell Robinson in Free Agency: Report

By now, everyone knows at least two things about the Dallas Mavericks' offseason:

1) Re-signing Jalen Brunson is their top priority, and...

2) the front office will pursue a big-man upgrade, whether it's through the NBA Draft, a trade or free agency.

The New York Knicks have been tied to the Mavs in rumors for a while now, as they have interest in signing Brunson – they even went as far as hiring his father, Rick, to be an assistant coach on Tom Thibodeau's staff a few days ago. Given the Mavs' need for more rim protection and rebounding, the idea of a Brunson for Mitchell Robinson trade has been floated around in the past.

As a last resort, the Mavs might entertain something like that if Brunson did decide to leave Dallas for New York, but it's widely expected that he will get his much-deserved pay raise with the Mavs as soon as free agency begins.

Even if the Mavs do have some level of interest in Robinson, a report by the NY Post states that there's limits to that interest.

"Meanwhile, an NBA source said center-starved Dallas is not expected to be interested in Robinson at his hefty price tag (at least $11 mil per year) and have set their sights on cheaper free-agent centers," writes Marc Berman.

In four years with the Knicks, Robinson has averaged 8.4 points, 7.5 rebounds and two blocks per game while shooting an outstanding 72.2 percent from the field. The only problem is that he's only averaging a little over 29 games played per season over that four-year stretch since being drafted out of Western Kentucky in 2018.

If "cheaper" center options are truly what the Mavs are aiming for, perhaps they'll hope they can persuade a free agent like Mo Bamba to take the taxpayer MLE ($6.3 million), although it wouldn't be a shock to see him get in the same ballpark as Robinson.

The good thing for the Mavs is that there's not a lot of money for teams to throw around this summer. After making a run to the Western Conference Finals, Dallas hopes it can make the proper roster tweaks necessary to take the next step heading into next season. Mavs GM Nico Harrison will be off and running in less than two weeks, as the draft begins on June 23. Then free agency will follow on July 1.